Koengeter v. Saul

8 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 9 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA NATHAN KOENGETER, Case No.: 19CV2228-KSC 12 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING APPLICATION v. TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS [DOC. NO. 2] ANDREW SAUL, Commissioner of Social Security, Defendant.

On November 22, 2019, plaintiff Nathan Koengeter commenced an action against Andrew Saul, the Commissioner of Social Security, seeking review of a final adverse decision of the Commissioner. [Doc. No. 1.] Plaintiff also filed an Application to Proceed with his Complaint in forma pauperis. [Doc. No. 2.] The Application is in the form of an affidavit. [Id.] A court may authorize the commencement of a suit without prepayment of fees if the plaintiff submits an affidavit, including a statement of all his or her assets, showing that he or she is unable to pay the filing fee. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). The affidavit must “state the facts as to [the] affiant's poverty with some particularity, definiteness and certainty.” United States v. McQuade, 647 F.2d 938, 940 (9th Cir. 1981) (internal quotations omitted).

1 A party need not be completely destitute to proceed in forma pauperis. Adkins v. ||E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., 335 U.S. 331, 339-340 (1948). An affidavit is sufficient 3 it shows that the applicant cannot pay the fee “and still be able to provide himself [or ||herself] and dependents with the necessities of life.” /d. (internal quotations omitted).

5 Here, plaintiff's affidavit states that he is unemployed, has no income and limited |/assets. His only assets are a savings account with a balance of $1,000 and a 2019 Nissan Sentra valued at $11,500 that he shares with his spouse. [Doc. No. 3, pp. 2-3.] He has a 6 || year old son. [/d., p. 3.] The only income for the household is from his spouse’s job, who 9 expected to earn $4,580.00 this month. [/d., pp. 1-2.] Monthly expenses for the 10 household total $6,156.00. [/d., pp. 4-5.] Therefore, the Court finds that plaintiff has |}submitted an affidavit which sufficiently shows he lacks the financial resources to pay his || filing fee. Accordingly, 13 IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT plaintiff's Application to Proceed with his ||Complaint in forma pauperis is GRANTED. [Doc. No. 2.]

15 ||Dated: January 6, 2020 Jl. Ke 7 Hori. Karen 8S. Crawford United States Magistrate Judge